Crime & Safety

Waukesha Judge Faces Disorderly Conduct Charge in Caledonia

Linda Van De Water was the odd woman out on a lover's triangle.

A Waukesha County Circuit judge is facing criminal charges after she allegedly tracked down and jumped on her ex-boyfriend’s car in Caledonia.   

The Racine County District Attorney’s Office filed a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge against Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Linda Van De Water, 48, of Brookfield, last week. The Caledonia Police Department released the police report today.

Van De Water was elected as a judge in 2003. She ran for District II Court of Appeals in 2010 and lost.

Find out what's happening in Caledoniawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to a report by Caledonia police, officers responded to a report of suspicious circumstances, disorderly conduct and damage to property complaint at 2:28 a.m. Jan. 16. If convicted of the charge, Van De Water faces up to 90 days in jail or fines up to $1,000.

A woman who lives in the 4900 block of Pine Tree Circle told police she awoke to frantic knocking and constant doorbell ringing at her door. When the woman went to the door, she saw a woman she didn’t recognize. The woman later identified the woman as Van De Water.

Find out what's happening in Caledoniawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

When she asked the woman what was wrong, Van De Water asked for her help and if Dr. Christopher Stone was there. Stone, a cardiologist in Kenosha, had been dating Van De Water. The woman told Van De Water that she didn’t know him. However, Van De Water insisted that his car was parked in front of the woman’s house.

The woman told police she did not smell any alcohol on Van De Water or see any injuries on her. Van De Water used the woman’s cell phone to call Stone and said several times into the phone, “Chris, you better come out now.”

After the woman told Van De Water she couldn’t help her, Van De Water left the house and the woman watched Van De Water go to another home and knock on the door. Van De Water then walked up to a car and started kicking it.

The woman then went upstairs and watched Van De Water from a window. She told police a dome light went on in a car that was parked nearby, and began to drive away. Van De Water then jumped on the hood of the car and screamed at the driver. The man then opened the door, pushed Van De Water, who was “flailing her arms,” away from him enough to close his car door, and drove away, according to the police report.

The woman told police Van De Water got into her SUV and followed the car at a high rate of speed.

According to the report, officers had checked the area for two vehicles, but they had left prior to the police arriving to the incident.

When police asked another woman living in the 4900 block of Pine Tree Circle about Stone, the woman said she had been dating Stone off and on for the last two to three years, and that he had also been dating Van De Water until September 2010.

According to police, Stone told them he had been called into surgery and he refused to give officers any information about Van De Water. Stone’s girlfriend told police she thought Van De Water might have been tracking Stone through his cell phone or through his GPS.

A few days later, when police followed up on the incident, Stone's girlfriend told police another neighbor saw Van De Water in the woman’s yard at 11:30 a.m. Stone's girlfriend also said Van De Water confronted the couple at 7 p.m. Jan. 17 at a restaurant in Brookfield.

When police interviewed Stone, he denied that anything happened on Jan. 16 when he left his girlfriend’s house and that he never saw Van De Water when he left her house. He also said she did not on the hood of his car.

Stone also denied knowing about Van De Water trespassing on his girlfriend’s property or that she confronted them at a restaurant in Brookfield.  He told police she “stopped by to say hello and denied there was any confrontation, or that a scene was made by Van De Water,” according to the police report.

Stone told police he did not want to proceed with the investigation, and he refused to talk about his relationship with Van De Water.

"At 2 a.m. it's hard for anyone to see what is going on," Stone said. "There was no damage to my car. This really should not be an issue because no crime was committed. It's a private matter."

Stone also claimed no charges had been filed. However, Assistant Chief, John Barnes, said they had been filed and the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access system indicated that charges had been filed.

"Caledonia don’t you have something better to talk about?" Stone said.

"It is unfortunate that Linda's personal life has spilled over into the public eye, we’re not going to compound that by talking about it in a public forum," said Jonathan Smith, who is handling the matter with his partner Steven Kohn, Van De Water's attorney.

At this time, a preliminary hearing has not been set.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.